Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has been elected the first-ever elected head of the sports body for a four-year term under the new PCB constitution.

[caption id="attachment_852" align="alignright" width="273"] Ashraf, 60, was earlier appointed indefinitely under the old system by President Zardari in October 2011 (Photo: AP)[/caption]

The International Cricket Council (ICC) directed all its member boards to become autonomous and free of government interference by June 2013. The ICC threatened sanctions if the boards failed to meet the requirement by the time.

The 60-year-old Ashraf was earlier appointed indefinitely under the old system by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in October 2011.

The new PCB constitution, introduced in February, replaced the old system under which the board chairman was elected by the Patron of the board i.e. Pakistan’s president.

Ashraf has now been re-elected again under the new constitution when the PCB’s board of governors met in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“Zaka Ashraf has taken over as the first elected chairman of the PCB who will serve his tenure of four years from today as prescribed in the PCB constitution,” the PCB said in a statement.

The PCB chairman was among the two nominees interviewed by the nominee committee. The other candidate was former Lahore Stock Exchange chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan. Both candidates were recommended by President Zardari.

Ashraf presented the new constitution to the ICC last month where ICC President Alan Isaac commended PCB’s effort in this regard.